Mosquito-transmitted Dengue Fever: What you need to know

Current status — Updated 9/11
Pinellas County is under a mosquito-borne illness alert. Locally-acquired dengue fever cases have been reported across the Tampa Bay area, and Pinellas County Mosquito Control has increased surveillance, inspections and treatments.

Residents throughout Pinellas County should take precautions to prevent mosquito bites and remove standing water around their homes and businesses.

As of the Florida Department of Health’s most recent report, the Tampa Bay area has 102 cases of locally acquired dengue cases, including 5 in Pinellas County.

What is dengue?

Dengue is a virus spread through the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus mosquito. You can learn more about the virus from the Florida Department of Health.

The Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes thrive in areas near homes and businesses and lay their eggs in containers that hold water like tires, buckets, plant dishes, wagons, trash cans and more.

Unlike many mosquitoes you may associate with being active in the evening, the mosquitoes that spread dengue can also bite during the day and are not found breeding in typical locations like ponding rainwater, ditches, canals, ponds or swamps.

It doesn’t take much water.

These mosquitoes breed in small containers around your home, even those holding as little as a bottle cap of water.

Protect yourself: Dump. Dress. Defend.

DUMP

Dump standing water at least once a week.

Check buckets, toys, plant saucers, tires, pet dishes and other containers around your home or business. Empty water, scrub containers when practical and turn them over, cover them or store them where they cannot collect rainwater. If you have a container that cannot be dumped, you can treat it with Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis). The most common forms are mosquito bits and mosquito dunks that you can find online or at your local hardware store.

DRESS

Cover up when both day and night.

Wear light-colored long sleeves and pants as well as socks and closed-toe shoes when practical.

DEFEND

Use an insect repellent with a CDC-recommend ingredient.

Look for an active ingredient such as:

  • DEET
  • Picaridin
  • IR3535
  • Oil of lemon eucalyptus

Mosquito Control needs your help. The mosquitoes that can spread Dengue often breed in containers on private property. Removing those breeding sites is one of the most important things residents can do to reduce mosquitoes around their homes.

Dengue is a regional concern

Dengue does not stop at County lines.

The mosquitoes that transmit dengue don’t travel very far from their breeding location, most times only within a few houses, but people travel throughout the Tampa Bay region all day, every day. The virus can spread when a mosquito becomes infected by biting a person who has dengue and can later spread the virus to other people.

That means increases in dengue cases elsewhere in the Tampa Bay area can increase the potential for additional local transmission in Pinellas County.

What Pinellas County is doing

Pinellas County Mosquito Control is expanding its efforts to reduce mosquito populations. We are working closely with the Florida Department of Health in Pinellas to monitor mosquito-borne illnesses and respond where needed.

We are increasing mosquito surveillance, targeted larval and adult mosquito treatments, ground inspections, resident education and door-to-door inspections.

If a Mosquito Control technician visits your property:
Allowing technicians to inspect your yard can help them find and eliminate hidden mosquito breeding sites.

More information

Pinellas County

Health information